Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-10-11
KILLING TREATMENT.
Sach as a Wife CLAIMS was Admin
istered by Her Husband-DivOrce

snch as a Wife CIalms was Admin
istered by Her Husband-DivOrce
Proceedings in the Circuit Court.
Upon the opening of court this morn
ing the complainant took the stand and
this afternoon she is undergoing examin-
alton. 1t will probably require all of the
afternoon to complete the examination of
this witness. aud the indications are that
the case will occupy the entire week, if
not longer. The examination this morn =
ing developed the plaintiffs side OF the
case. which is substantially that Mr. Kill
ling was of a morose disposition; con-
tinually found fault with bis wife, scold.
ed and tormented her; was snarling and
growing around the house all the time;
objected to her treatment of Fannie Xii
ling, their adopted daughter, and all she
cared about was to have a good time and
take good care of her girls. two of them
living with her until married; that he
thought she was extravagant and too
nice about the care OF her house; that at
times he abused her, swore at her and
threatened to use force upon her,
and upon several occasions, detailed by
the witness. upon the most trivial provo
cation, he kicked her, drove her ont of
the house. chOked her until she could see
nothing, and jammed her against the door
casing until she was sore The witness
disclaimed any provocalion for these at.
tacks upon her. and insisted that she did
all she could to please her husband and
make bis home happy, but it seemed i'm
possible to do anything to please him.
She complained of his treatment 10 her in
the presence of the hired help, and said
that when in mad fit he declined to talk
with her at all-except to swear at her
and use obscene language toward her
or to wait upon her at the table, or per.
form any of the little acts of courtesy
usually accorded one member of the fam
lily to another.
The demeanor of the witness upon the
stand was ladyhke and calm-ra,her in
clined to be lOenaciOus, but otherwise all
her counsel could hope or expect. In
narrating some of the circumstances of
the various instances of cruelty, she be-
came so affected that she could not pros
coed for few moments. but soon recov-
cred and proceeded with the thread of her
story. Outside of few tits between
counsel. nothing occurred To disturb the
mOnotony of the trial
Yesterday afternoon upon the opening
of the circuit court, the much talked of
divorce case of Jane Killing against Will
lam Killing was begun and up to the
evening adjournment jury was chosen
and counsel for each party had made their
opening statements, The complainant is
represented by Mr.. NJ M Sturgeon and
Hon. Charles Durham of Geneseo, while
VIM. Jackson and Hon. W. H Gest sus,
tain the rights of the defendant There
are quite a number of the bar of this
county present, as the prominence of the
counsel on either side, as well as the
parties, and the circumstances surround
ing the case, give promise of an interest.
ing legal encounter The benches, too
ale not without occupants, drawn thithel
perhaps by interest in the parties or more
likely by morbid craving for smut.
which cases of this kind sometimes de-
velop. But we warn our many respect
able readers that there will be nothing
more grating to the ears of modesty than
an innocent little cuss word occasionally
if the opening statements of counsel sf
ford any clew to the proof TO be intro
duced
The cause Of the divorce, as stated, Il
that of extreme and repeated cruelty OF
the part of the defendant to his wife ant
several INSTANCES are relied on to support
the charge, wherein it is claimed that b.
chobed, kicked, beat and otherwise useC
physical force toward her. On the Other
hand. Mr.. Killing says his wife has Ter
rihle temper, and flies up" upon tn
least. or no provocation; that he has beer
kind to her and provided her every wan
| and given her better home than sh
ever had in her life. He says that humal
endurance could not withstand her tan
trums. and he sometimes did take hold o
her 10 restrain her rage. Such, in brief
are the grounds of complaint and de
| Tense